One of the reasons why I have not fully lost my trust in the catholic clergy is the fact that there are still priests who exemplify Christ’s mission- to become pastors with preferential option for the oppressed and the powerless. Father Fausto “Pops” Tentorio was one of those few priests who chose to leave the comforts of the convents of the parishes in the urban in exchange of simple yet relevant life in the hinterlands with the lumads.
I remember Father Pops as a close friend of my parents who are both development workers. He was a man with an intimidating foreign looks, but with an intimate Filipino heart. In fact, Father Pops was more Filipino than most of us! He spoke fluent Hiligaynon, and perhaps, Manobo, too. Every time he presided mass in the cathedral, he always wore “tubaw” around his head, and his feet, with slippers on, as does his fellow PIME missionary, Father Peter Geremia. But his being Filipino-at-heart did not end up with the way he talked or dressed. His was a familiar face in big mobilizations in the province especially when it involved issues on Indigenous Peoples’ ancestral domain, development aggressions in the form of mining and agribusiness that are almost always showcased with militarization. His was a firm voice in saying NO to policies that endanger the cultural identity of lumads. But his advocacies encompass concerns of peasants and workers. He was always in the midst of the Filipino people in the quest for a peace based on justice.
Now that his body is dead, my memories of him are becoming more alive. I can now perfectly remember the taste of the dark chocolate he gave us as a pasalubong from his visit to his “former home country”, Italy. It was as bitter as this feeling of grief on the loss of a person who I refuse to claim as a personal friend, because I believe he was a man who rejected the desperate idea of personal possessions. He was a man who offered his person to the multitude of nameless masses.
His butchers failed to discourage me to pursue the fight of Fr. Pops. His butchers made it clear to me that the use of force is justified especially when, according to Father Joel Tabora, SJ, it is used to free the society of unjust violence. His butchers taught me that standing forcefully in defense of the welfare of the many is “a just expression of Christian hope”. Father Pops, do not rest in their false peace! We have yet to claim the justice!
